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A judge appointed Mike Washo as receiver for the Scranton Parking Authority on Tuesday, giving the former county commissioner broad decision-making power to decide the financially struggling authority's future.

Under Lackawanna County Court Judge Robert A. Mazzoni's order, Mr. Washo has full control of authority operations, including the power to operate its five garages to ensure authority bondholders are repaid and decide which authority employees he needs to operate them.

Mr. Washo said it is too early to talk about the future of any employees, including Executive Director Robert Scopelliti, a longtime friend and political ally of Mayor Chris Doherty. City council members blame Mr. Scopelliti for the authority's financial troubles.

Mr. Washo pointed out the employees still work for the authority, though the judge's order gives him full control of the revenues coming from its garages, the bulk of the money used to pay employees.

"It's way too soon for that," he said. "I don't want to scare anybody. â¦ I will show respect for everybody."

Parking authority solicitor Joseph O'Brien cautioned against speculating on anyone's dismissal, saying Mr. Washo controls authority assets, but the authority remains intact with full control over its employees. The judge's order does say, however, that Mr. Washo is under no obligation to keep or pay any current employees.

Mr. Washo said he had no contact with either Mr. Doherty, council President Janet Evans or anyone at the authority over taking the job as receiver. The job will pay $100 an hour, an amount that will come from authority revenues.

Asked how his hiring came about, he would only say he was contacted by a representative of the trustee for the authority bonds, Wells Fargo Bank. He declined to name the representative who contacted him, but said he did talk to attorney Daniel T. Brier, the trustee's lawyer.

Wells Fargo wanted a receiver appointed because the authority defaulted on an approximately $1 million bond payment June 1. The bank sued the parking authority and the city about two weeks ago to have the receiver appointed.

The default happened because the authority ran short of money. Mr. Scopelliti blamed a downturn in the economy, but city council members blamed Mr. Scopelliti's management. They declined initially to approve letting the city make the bond payment, which, under the bond terms, must happen when the authority cannot.

Council members later reversed themselves and approved the payment, but defended the delay - which scared off lenders crucial to the city budget - because it drew the bond trustee's attention to authority mismanagement. They favored appointing a receiver.

Mr. O'Brien said the authority acquiesced to Wells Fargo's and council's desire for a receiver.

"The individual chosen by the bank, Washo, is an experienced, outstanding guy, very intelligent and will certainly do a good job," Mr. O'Brien said. "We believe that the authority is a well-run, bare-bones operation with a small number of employees and minimal expenses but it just does not produce the revenue to pay for these garages. I mean some governmental projects don't pay for themselves. People have to accept the fact that this is one of them."

Mr. O'Brien said the parking authority built the garages as economic development tools, a purpose they fulfill daily, by providing parking for the Hilton Scranton & Conference Center, Diversified Information Technologies and the revived Connell Building apartments and retail center.

Mr. Washo said he could not comment on the authority's financial problems because he has not studied its operations.

"We'll be looking at whether or not the garages should be turned over to a private operator," Mr. Washo said, referring to a wish of council members. "We'll be looking ... at all the options. All of that (speculation on the future) is premature. I don't know who does what at the parking authority."

Council members, especially Mrs. Evans, have long criticized the authority as a "dumping ground" for friends of Mr. Doherty like Mr. Scopelliti who they say mismanaged it.

Mr. Scopelliti was the city's parks and recreation director for Mr. Doherty's first five years as mayor before a parking authority board made up of the mayor's appointees hired him as deputy authority executive director in 2006 and the top job in January 2008.

Mr. Washo has plenty of political connections of his own.

During his second term as commissioner, Mr. Washo and fellow Commissioner Corey O'Brien endorsed the mayor's election to a third term.

"We want a strong and capable person in the mayor's office," Mr. Washo said at the time. "And Chris Doherty is that person."

Under the Washo-O'Brien regime, the county solicitor was attorney John O'Brien, the brother of the parking authority solicitor. Corey O'Brien is unrelated to Joe and John O'Brien.

Mrs. Evans said she is concerned about the appointment because of Mr. Washo's political ties.

"Frankly, I had hoped they would appoint a new, independent manager," she said. "We had no knowledge of this process. â¦ I hope Mr. Washo will restore public confidence by cleaning house and installing a new management team. The SPA (the parking authority) must become self-sufficient or the garages will need to be sold. The city cannot afford to support the SPA."

But Mr. Doherty, who praised the choice of Mr. Washo, said future authority bond payments are part of the proposed recovery plan the city is working on.

Before he was commissioner, Mr. Washo ran the city's Office of Economic and Community Development under Mayor Jim Connors. He is widely credited for assembling the deal that led to the Mall at Steamtown's construction. Former state Senate Democratic Leader Robert J. Mellow twice appointed Mr. Washo to the state Ethics Commission.

Despite his roots in local politics, Mr. Washo has shown an independent streak. In his lone term as majority commissioner, his unwillingness to let politics dictate day-to-day decision-making upset the politically connected.

He proudly boasted that he and Corey O'Brien allowed department heads to hire and fire without considering political connections, a claim disputed mainly by former department leaders who were Republicans and sued Mr. Washo and Mr. O'Brien for firing them.

"Maybe I'm not all that political," he said Tuesday of why he was hired as receiver.

Mr. Washo, a commissioner for almost seven years, left office in January after deciding not to seek a new term last year.

"My plan was to take a few months and just decompress and think about what I'd like to do and I decided I'd like to do projects that interest me and challenge me and this is one such project," he said.

David Singleton, staff writer, contributed to this story.

Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com

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